Abstract:
TIM TANGREDI: The CEO of Dais Analytic Corp. in Pasco County's Odessa has come a long way from the mid 1990s when his upstate New York business was tinkering over a fuel cell idea at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The firm was lured to Pasco in 1998 thanks to tax breaks and assistance. Now comes the promise of company jobs. Lots of jobs.

In September, the 18-employee maker of nanotechnology-based air filtration systems unveiled a $200 million deal to export its product to China and, in the process, create 1,000 jobs over the next five years. That's a big number to deliver anywhere in Tampa Bay, but especially so in Pasco's bedroom communities where the November jobless rate was a depressing 13.2 percent.

Tangredi, 54, says Dais is gaining recognition for its nanotechnology expertise to solve "vexing energy and water infrastructure problems." His air filtration systems reduce the energy required to heat and cool buildings. As for those 1,000 jobs, the company isn't hiring yet. But when that time comes and Dais delivers, it could prove a transformative economic event for the Odessa area.